'The Hobbit' May Extend to Become a Trilogy
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, RumorMonger, Peter Jackson, Remakes and Sequels
If you can't get enough of hobbits, elves, dwarves, and trolls, we have good news for you. A fan site has heard "a report that negotiations are under way for a third film," meaning that The Hobbit, already slated to be released as two separate pictures, may be extended to become a trilogy.
An anonymous source told TheOneRing.net that the main sticking points are the contracts for Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro to allow for three more months of principal photography and "temporarily suspending some of their other projects." The same source speculates that the third film would delve "into the back-story of the Istari (Wizards) including Gandalf and Saruman's youth in Valinor." Our own Elisabeth Rappe previously wrote about the desire of seemingly every Lord of the Rings actor to appear in The Hobbit, and this rumor might allow for that.
Del Toro has spoken about The Hobbit as "two episodes, or two parts, as if they were a single piece of narrative," so maybe the story has become so rich and complicated that he and Jackson don't want it to ever end (kind of like the concluding hour of The Return of the King). The original announcement of del Toro as director mentioned that he would be moving to New Zealand for four years to complete The Hobbit and its sequel, so what's another few months? Though I'm not a huge fan of the original LOTR trilogy, I am a huge fan of del Toro, so the more, the better. As it now stands, The Hobbit is due for release in December 2010, with its sequel to follow in December 2011.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-01-2009 @ 4:47PM
Kevin said...
See, this would be a good April Fools joke. I'm not sure if its true or not, but if it isn't then hats off to you Peter. You're going to get a whole shitload of LotR fans really excited when they buy into this...like me. If its true then its awesome. But I get the feeling that Peter is just pulling one over on us, in which case it is also awesome.
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4-01-2009 @ 4:59PM
Maddie said...
It IS an April Fool's joke. Note the first tag on the article at TheOneRing.net: fool.
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4-02-2009 @ 4:27AM
Evan said...
Agreed. This is definitely an April Fools joke, but I believe from TheOneRing, not Peter Jackson.
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4-01-2009 @ 9:43PM
weston said...
I think it's time for a reboot of the LotR trilogy. We are approaching what, 9 years since Fellowship? There should be a huge re-imaging with Brett Ratner at the helm doing the whole trilogy in a more hip and contemporary way.
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4-02-2009 @ 8:25AM
j said...
to be honest, if they did stretch the movie out over three, or four, or twelve, i'd be ok with any of that.
hell, let's take the middle earth world to HBO in a miniseries with all new original storylines, and introduce ewoks somewhere in there too.
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4-03-2009 @ 4:28PM
Patty P said...
J - I agree. I could watch a dozen more if they were similar quality as the first trilogy. Sadly, this story IS an April Fool's Day joke from TORN. I did not find it funny at all since I can't get enough of Middle Earth!
*sends the flying monkeys to TORN in a snit*
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